FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional mobile phone 100. The mobile phone 100 includes a display section 102, a touch panel 103, a display control section 104, and a touch control section 105.
A flat display device is employed as the display section 102. Examples of the flat display device include a liquid crystal display.
The display control section 104 controls, in accordance with an instruction issued by a CPU (not illustrated), the display section 102 to, for example, scroll a displayed screen or switch one screen to another.
The touch panel 103 is an input device via which a user conducts a touch operation on a display screen of the display section 102. In a case where a touch operation is conducted with respect to the touch panel 103, the touch panel 103 supplies, to the touch control section 105, a signal in accordance with a touched position.
The touch control section 105 processes a signal received from the touch panel 103. The touch control section 105 includes (i) an operation accepting section 1051 which accepts an operation conducted via the touch panel 103 and (ii) an accepting operation control section 1052 which controls an accepting operation of the operation accepting section 1051.
The operation accepting section 1051 determines, in accordance with a signal received from the touch panel 103, a content of an input operation conducted with respect to the touch panel 103 and then supplies, to a CPU (not illustrated), information in accordance with the content of the input operation.
The accepting operation control section 1052 controls the operation accepting section 1051 to forbid/permit an accepting operation. Particularly, out of accepting operations conducted by the operation accepting section 1051, the accepting operation control section 1052 controls the operation accepting section 1051 to forbid or permit an acceptance of a selecting operation conducted with respect to a display element, such as an icon, on a screen displayed by the display section 102 (hereinafter simply referred to as “selecting operation”). Specifically, in a case where scrolling of a screen displayed by the display section 102 (hereinafter simply referred to as a “screen scroll”) is started, the accepting operation control section 1052 controls the operation accepting section 1051 to forbid (disable) an acceptance of a selecting operation until the screen scroll stops.
A flick operation means an operation of striking a touch panel with the use of a finger, a touch pen, or the like (see (a) of FIG. 12). That is, the flick operation means an operation of (i) moving a finger or the like in a desired direction on a touch panel and (ii) then immediately detaching the finger or the like from the touch panel. It is difficult to conduct an accurate selecting operation by a touch during screen scroll. Therefore, the accepting operation control section 1052 disables a selecting operation during screen scroll, thereby preventing execution of a selecting operation which a user does not intend.
A drag operation means an operation of moving a file or a folder to an intended position by sliding a finger, a touch pen, or the like on a touch panel. That is, the drag operation means an operation of (i) moving a finger or the like in a desired direction in a state where the finger or the like is in contact with a file or a folder via a touch panel and (ii) detaching the finger or the like from the touch panel in a case where the file or the folder is at an intended position.
The following description will discuss touch control carried out by the mobile phone 100 with reference to a flowchart illustrated in FIG. 13.
As illustrated in FIG. 13, in a case where (i) a touch operation with respect to the touch panel 103 is detected (Yes, in step S101) and (ii) a finger(s) is detached from the touch panel 103 (Yes, in step S102), the accepting operation control section 1052 determines whether or not the touch operation is a flick operation (S103). In a case where the finger(s) is in contact with the touch panel 3 even after a given time has elapsed (No, in step S102), processing corresponding to a drag operation or a press-and-hold operation is conducted (step S104).
In a case where (i) the touch operation is a flick operation (Yes, in step S103) and (ii) screen scroll is started (Yes, in step S105), the accepting operation control section 1052 controls the operation accepting section 1051 to forbid an acceptance of a selecting operation (step S106). In a case where the screen scroll has stopped (yes, in step S107), the accepting operation control section 1052 controls the operation accepting section 1051 to lift the forbiddance of an acceptance of a selecting operation (step S108).
Note that, in a case where the touch operation is an operation (for example, a tap operation with respect to an icon) other than the flick operation in step S103, a selection of the icon is, for example, made (step S109). In a case where the touch operation is a flick operation but screen scroll is not started because, for example, the finger(s) is moved in a direction in which a screen cannot be scrolled (no, in step S105), the accepting operation control section 1052 controls the operation accepting section 1051 not to forbid an acceptance of a selecting operation.
According to the mobile phone 100, a selecting operation is disabled during screen scroll. This makes it difficult to quickly carry on an operation of the mobile phone 100. Specifically, because the screen scroll is calculated in terms of one pixel, a moving amount of a screen becomes considerably small right before the screen scroll stops. Accordingly, a timing when a user actually feels that the screen scroll has stopped is earlier than a timing when the screen scroll completely stops. Therefore, because a user desires to quickly carry on an operation of the mobile phone 100, such a case occurred that the user conducts a selecting operation with respect to an icon or the like before the screen scroll completely stops and the selecting operation is accordingly disabled. This phenomenon particularly occurs, especially, in a case where the mobile phone 100 is operated by one hand.
In view of this, a technique has been suggested which allows a touch operation to be conducted even during screen scroll in a case where a time period during which a finger is in contact with a touch panel is equal to or less than a threshold (for example, Patent Literature 1). This makes it possible to quickly carry on a selecting operation.